Lord of Charm



"Haha, seems like your subjects paid the price for killing my assassins."

Sukehiro and The Empress stood in front of each other in the sky. They didn't really bother fighting since they knew they both weren't able to injure each other unless they went at it for at least half a day.

"It's easier for me to get new soldiers than it's for you to get new assassins."

The Empress was right about that; she had a dynasty with billions of people while the Order mainly recruited descendants. 

They got some new blood too, but it was hard to find recruits when having a good affinity with a rare element was the threshold requirement to join. One should also remember that the local empire wanted to nurture such people too, so they had competition.

"Hmph, don't pretend not to care. Elite soldiers aren't that easy to find or cheap to nurture."

"If you say so. Anyway, it's time for us to leave. Hopefully, I will be able to kill you next time we meet."

"Good luck with killing me next time, but it's not time for you to leave yet. We can't part ways without fighting first."

Sukehiro smiled at The Empress and drew a long black sword. It was the famous "Black Onyx" katana that slayed thousands of the Order's enemies. Sukehiro used it to kill 4 magi of the Chijakor Empire, and according to rumors, he even cut off a leg of a grand magus with it.

It was a ninth-grade Darkness sword crafted before the Hatred Era, and it was found in ruins by the Assassin Order a few thousand years ago. 

"Why are we wasting time here? We haven't fought all this time because we know there won't be a winner even if we fight."

The Empress frowned upon hearing Sukehiro's words. The only reason they were floating so far away from the battling mages was because they had to do it to save face. 

It would be awkward if they just stood in the sky without doing anything while their subordinates killed each other, so they chose to pretend they were fighting in the distance.

"Because I think I improved a little since our last bout against each other and I want to test whether I can kill you now or not."

Sukehiro smirked at her and waited for her to draw her sword too. He knew he couldn't kill her even if he tried to sneak attack her, so there was no reason not to be courteous toward her.

"Fine, since you want to waste time, I will let you have it your way."

The Empress drew her sword and faced him. Her sword wasn't inferior to his one bit; it was also a ninth-grade treasure, a relic from the past.

Before the fight began, she only needed to do one thing.

"Soldiers, find intact rooms in the base and use them to rest and recover from your injuries. I will come back when I chase away their vile magus."

The Empress's voice was heard by everyone down on the ground in the base.

"I'm vile? I thought we were old friends. You might hurt my feelings, you know?"

The two soon charged against each other and engaged in a monstrous fight. The weird thing about their fight was that it was completely silent, lacking the flamboyant style of high-level fights. It was the way two Darkness Magi fought each other.

Unlike what any potential viewer would think, watching their fight was boring; they were invisible most of the time and silent all of it. 

Upon hearing The Empress's words, the three magi from the dynasty who were fighting the two magi from the Order frowned and exchanged looks. Although they were pressuring the enemy, they couldn't get a victory, and they knew that the enemy magi could slip away whenever they wanted.

They found it weird that the enemy didn't run away after the battle between the mages was over. They felt they were fighting now pointlessly, but they had no choice but to fight back. 

To encourage themselves they thought of the scenario in which the assassins stayed beyond their limit, in which they would have a harder time leaving later.

-------

"Everyone, you heard The Empress's words. Let's all rest and refresh ourselves so we can be ready to move out when The Empress is back."

The man in charge shouted to the soldiers and everyone started searching for empty rooms.

All the princes left the main battle to hunt for escapees, so none of them was present during the moment of the explosion. They also didn't bother searching for rooms; they just waited for the commander to provide them with rooms.

"Your Highness, I was sent to lead you to your room."

Two soldiers stood in front of Taeko and Hanako. Each prince got a top floor of a building, and the soldiers made sure to lay silencing magic circles to prevent noise from going outside the floors.

Hanako and Kisuke followed their attender to the floor that was administered to them and entered a bedroom.

Hanako impatiently grabbed Kisuke's hand and pulled him after her to one of the bedrooms. The soldiers already made sure everything was clean and even did the bedding.

As soon as the two entered the room Kisuke saw her starving eyes and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. 

He still didn't have sex with her after all this time they spent together because he didn't want to be shackled to her, but on the other hand, everyone already kind of thought they were a couple, so he was already shackled.

'Should I go for it and the hell with the consequences? She is pretty and very sincere about having a relationship with me.'

"Hanako, I know you want me, but are you willing to leave your current husband and never marry any other man in the future?"

"I am."

She said while squeezing his hand in an attempt to show her sincerity. She was in love with Kisuke and being around him during the past week only helped to deepen this feeling.

  She found him considerate and understanding, powerful and independent. Not less importantly, she found him the most handsome man she ever met despite her usual preference for the local features of the Chijakor Empire.

"Okay."

He stroked her hair with his hand as he leaned to kiss her again. The two fell on the bed together, still teasing each other with their hands and kissing without a break. 

Kisuke climbed on top of her, sending his hands under her shirt as he started nibbling on her ear. Hanako moaned softly when she felt his hands roaming her body and his breath against her ear.

The two spent a steamy night together, unaware of the deadly battles that took place nearby between the magi of the two sides.

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After 12 hours of the battle of the 3 magi from the Nikkokuni Dynasty against the 2 magi of the Order, one of the assassins finally got hit once in his leg, shattering his bone.

"You guys have played hide and seek with us all day; seems like we are getting familiar with your favorite hiding places."

One of the magi from the empire mocked the assassins.

"Whatever you say. You can only find us because of this Light Magus."

The two assassins cursed Ichinose in their minds as they kept trying to hide from his Light magic. They only survived so long because they hid instead of attacking, and only came out to send futile ambushes when the magi from the empire tried to retreat to the base.

"What's the point of this game? Do you want to die so badly?"

The irritated magus asked the two assassins who returned to their hiding spot.

"It's just so difficult to find a variety of sparring partners at our stage. We had to take this great chance to practice and improve ourselves to prevent our magic from stagnating."

The magi knew the assassin was speaking nonsense, so he didn't reply.

"Since we are too injured to continue, we will take our leave now. Goodbye and enjoy your new base."

The assassins vanished from where they stood earlier and ran away. Ichinose's Light magic flared out their dark silhouette for a short moment, but it soon disappeared again.

"We will never catch them if we give chase. Let's just give up on killing them and go to rest in the base."

"What about The Empress? Shouldn't we join hands with her to chase away their leader?"

"It's fine, he will leave too since he knows he can't fight back if the three of us support The Empress. I heard The Empress and that man fought at least a dozen of times by now and there was never a winner, so The Empress isn't in danger. If she wants us there, we can just wait for her to call us."

"All right."

-----------

Meanwhile, just like the magus predicted, Sukehiro chose to retreat when he got the news that his subordinates escaped from the empire's magi.

The Empress got the message about the escape of the two Darkness Magi, and she looked at Sukehiro questionably. They were fighting for too long now and nobody got an edge over the other.

If her magi came, they'd be able to tilt this battle in her favor, but they'd still be unable to actually kill the man. 

Although she originally didn't plan to kill any magus from the enemy's side, she would happily kill an eighth-stage magus of the enemy side and plunder a ninth-grade treasure if she had the option.